Very small collars: an evaluation of telemetry location estimators for small mammals

Fine-scale tracking of animals such as Peromyscus spp. is still done with micro-very high frequency collars due to the animal’s small size and habitat usage. In most cases, tracking micro-very high frequency collars requires manual telemetry, yet throughout the literature, there is little reporting of individual telemetry methods or error reporting for small mammal spatial analyses. Unfortunately, there is even less documentation and consensus on the best programs used to calculate fine-scale animal locations from compass azimuths. In this study, we present a strategy for collecting fine-scale spatial data on Peromyscus spp. as a model species for micro-very high frequency collars and assess multiple programmatic options and issues when calculating telemetry locations. Mice were trapped from April to October 2018–2019 with Sherman traps in Howard County, Maryland, USA. Collars were placed on 61 mice, of which 31 were included in the analyses. We compared the two most cited location estimator programs in the literature, location of a signal software and Locate III, as well as the Sigloc package in program R. To assess the programmatic estimates of coordinates at a fine scale and examine programmatic impacts on different analyses, we created and compared minimum convex polygon and kernel density estimator home ranges from locations produced by each program. We found that 95% minimum convex polygon home range size significantly differed across all programs. However, we found more similarities in estimates across calculations of core home ranges. Kernel density estimator home ranges had similar patterns as the minimum convex polygon home ranges with significant differences in home range size for 95% and 50% contours. These differences likely resulted from different inclusion requirements of bearings for each program. This study highlights how different location estimator programs could change the results of a small mammal study and emphasizes the need to calculate telemetry error and meticulously document the specific inputs and settings of the location estimator.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-022-00301-

Assessing nest attentiveness of Common Terns via video cameras and temperature loggers

While nest attentiveness plays a critical role in the reproductive success of avian species, nest attentiveness data with high temporal resolution is not available for many species. However, improvements in both video monitoring and temperature logging devices present an opportunity to increase our understanding of this aspect of avian behavior. To investigate nest attentiveness behaviors and evaluate these technologies, we monitored 13 nests across two Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) breeding colonies with a paired video camera - temperature logger approach, while monitoring 63 additional nests with temperature loggers alone. Observations occurred from May to August of 2017 on Poplar (Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA) and Skimmer Islands (Isle of Wight Bay, Maryland, USA). We examined data respective to four times of day: Morning (civil dawn‒11:59), Peak (12:00‒16:00), Cooling (16:01‒civil dusk), and Night (civil dusk‒civil dawn). While successful nests had mostly short duration off-bouts and maintained consistent nest attentiveness throughout the day, failed nests had dramatic reductions in nest attentiveness during the Cooling and Night periods (p  0.05), video-monitored nests did have significantly lower clutch sizes (p < 0.05). The paired use of iButtons and video cameras enabled a detailed description of the incubation behavior of COTE. However, while promising for future research, the logistical and potential biological complications involved in the use of these methods suggest that careful planning is needed before these devices are utilized to ensure data is collected in a safe and successful manner.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-020-00208-

Estrategia para conservar las poblaciones de buitres del viejo mundo utilizando el enfoque de una salud

One Health brings the powerful interrelationship between human and wildlife health together with ecosystem health. The initial concept of One Health was formulated decades ago and focused on disease transfer from wildlife to human populations. More recently, the concept has been used to associate resilience to disease with the health of the ecosystem and resilience to environmental stressors. The need for a One Health approach is particularly evident in the plight of Old World vultures, which are facing a conservation crisis due to drastic reductions in populations across their entire range. Moreover, vulture conservation exemplifies many contemporary tenets of One Health; vultures are critical to a sustainable and resilient ecosystem, which in turn is essential for the socio-ecological health of human communities. In this review, we examine the complex factors contributing to the demise of Old World vulture populations, using the lens of One Health to conceptualize the primary drivers impacting the health and sustainability of these populations. The One Health concept provides the basis for the development of a framework that incorporates a multidimensional approach and includes human health, wildlife health, environmental and disease-related stressors, disease incidences, societal pressures, and environmental contaminants. Integrating societal needs with management aimed at maintaining healthy vulture populations is key for successfully using a One Health framework to optimize the health of human and wildlife populations and ensure ecosystem health.El enfoque ‘‘Una Salud’’ promueve una poderosa interrelacio´n entre la salud de los humanos y de la fauna salvaje asociados a la salud de los ecosistemas. El concepto inicial de Una Salud fue formulado de´cadas atra´s y se enfocaba en la transferencia de enfermedades de la fauna salvaje a las poblaciones humanas. Ma´s recientemente, el concepto ha sido usado para asociar la resiliencia a las enfermedades con la salud de los ecosistemas y la resiliencia a factores de estre´s ambiental. La necesidad de utilizar el enfoque de Una Salud es particularmente evidente ante la dif´ıcil situacio´n de los buitres del Viejo Mundo, los cuales se enfrentan a una situacio´n de crisis de conservacio´n debido a la reduccio´n dra´stica en sus poblaciones a lo largo de toda su a´rea de distribucio´n. Adema´s, la conservacio´n de los buitres ejemplifica mucho de los principios contempora´neos de Una Salud; los buitres son cr´ıticos para un ecosistema sostenible y resiliente, lo que a su vez es esencial para la salud socio-ecolo´gica de las comunidades humanas. En esta revisio´n, examinamos los factores complejos que contribuyen al descenso de las poblaciones de buitres del Viejo Mundo, usando el enfoque de Una Salud para conceptualizar los factores principales que impactan en la salud y la sostenibilidad de estas poblaciones. El concepto de Una Salud proporciona las bases para el desarrollo de un marco de referencia que incorpora un enfoque multidimensional, incluyendo la salud humana y de la vida silvestre, factores estresantes ambientales y de enfermedades, incidencia de enfermedades, presiones sociales y qu´ımicos ambientales. Integrar las necesidades de la sociedad con la gestio´n destinada a mantener poblaciones saludables de buitres es clave para usar exitosamente el marco de referencia de Una Salud y as´ı optimizar la salud de las poblaciones humanas y de la fauna salvaje asegurando la salud del ecosistema.The National Science Foundationhttps://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-raptor-researcham2022Zoology and Entomolog

Multi-disciplinary efforts to evaluate the therapeutic potential of CDK11, a novel transcription associated cyclin dependent kinase.

View full abstracthttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/leading-edge/1043/thumbnail.jp

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

White-Tailed Deer Spatial Distribution in Relation to ‘4-Poster’ Tick Control Devices in Suburbia

Deer are keystone hosts for adult ticks and have enabled the spread of tick distributions. The ‘4-Poster’ deer bait station was developed by the United States Department of Agriculture to control ticks feeding on free-ranging deer. Although effective in certain scenarios, ‘4-Poster’ deer treatment stations require the use of bait to attract deer to one location, which may cause increased deer disease transmission rates and habitat damage. To better understand and manage the impact of baited ‘4-Poster’ stations on deer movements, we captured and GPS-monitored 35 deer as part of an integrated pest management project. Fifteen ‘4-Poster’ stations were deployed among three suburban county parks to control ticks. To quantify the effects of ‘4-Poster’ stations, we calculated deer movement metrics before and after feeders were filled with whole kernel corn, and we gathered information on visitation rates to feeders. Overall, 83.3% of collared deer visited a feeder and revisited approximately every 5 days. After feeders were refilled, collared deer were ~5% closer to feeders and conspecifics than before filling. Males used a higher percentage of available feeders and visited them more throughout the deployment periods. Although these nuanced alterations in behavior may not be strong enough to increase local deer abundance, in light of infectious diseases affecting deer populations and effective ‘4-Poster’ densities, the core range shifts and clustering after refilling bait may be a cause for concern. As such, trade-offs between conflicting management goals should be carefully considered when deploying ‘4-Poster’ stations.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph1908488

Additional file 4 of Very small collars: an evaluation of telemetry location estimators for small mammals

Additional file 4. Perimeter area ratio for kernel density estimator (KDE) home ranges (n = 31) across three estimator programs (LOAS, LOCATE III, and Sigloc). The mice were tracked via micro-VHF collars in a suburban park in Howard county, Maryland, USA, 2018–2019

Additional file 2 of Very small collars: an evaluation of telemetry location estimators for small mammals

Additional file 2. Descriptive area statistics for 31 (19 males and 12 females) Kernel Density Estimator home ranges for Peromyscus spp. The total home range areas in meters squared were produced by three different estimator programs. The mice were tracked via micro-VHF collars in a suburban park in Howard county, Maryland, USA, 2018–2019

Additional file 3 of Very small collars: an evaluation of telemetry location estimators for small mammals

Additional file 3. The amount of home range overlap (m2) produced by of the minimum convex polygon (MCP) and kernel density estimator (KDE) home ranges (n = 31) across three estimator programs (LOAS, LOCATE III, and Sigloc). The mice were tracked via micro-VHF collars in a suburban park in Howard county, Maryland, USA, 2018–2019